Youth incarceration rates decline

2:16 AM,
Jul. 27, 2013

Minors facing charges in the Monterey County Juvenile Court system enjoy the view of the closed courtroom door from the bench. Closely proximated to the Monterey County Juvenile Hall, incarcerated minors only have a short walk to the courtroom, explained Manny Real, chief probation officer.

Written by

Allison Gatlin
agatlin@thecalifornian.com

Youth incarceration rates have plummeted over the past decade because, in part, of a new attitude fostering rehabilitation and treatment over reliance on jail time, according to a recent report examining nine "comeback" states.

Authored by the National Juvenile Justice Network and the Texas Policy Foundation, "The Comeback States" opens with the record-setting year of 2000, in which 108,802 juveniles were confined while awaiting trial. The upward trend began long before, in the mid-1980s, when the United States logged a "tough on crime" edict influenced, largely, by increases in ...